Last night purchased a 2014 Forester XT Premium in SoCal for 100 over factory invoice, which is a fair deal I guess, considering FXT Premiums are in short supply right now. No trade, no money down. zero dealer mark ups, no warranties purchased, third party financing. only 80 doc fee and TTL

In socal its easy to get 400 over invoice if you can find the right FXT. BTW, truecar has incorrect invoice pricing on some accessories, so get your numbers right before hand.

Went for a test drive today of both the Forester and Outback. I've also driven the CX5 and the RAV. I was incredibly impressed by the Forester.

Ideally, I would like a Premium Auto.Don't need the all-weather package or other options.

I wasn't ready to do final negotiations with the salesperson today, but asked for ball park pricing.

First issue - he started telling me that as this is the north east, all the cars come with the weather package..."everybody wants it." He also told me that things like the auto lighting approach mirrors and auto dimming mirrors are also on every car..(another extra 500 on top of the 500 for the all weather package).Add in the cargo cover, mud flaps etc...and we have 1300$ in options that he insisted were basically ordered up by everyone.

So, my question for this experienced group - how true are these statements?Was this similar to your own experience or did your dealer customize your car as you saw fit?

Second, assuming that the dealer is exaggerating and I can pushback hard, I'd love to hear what I should be insisting to pay for a premium CVT without any additional options. I saw someone on this thread paid 26500 OTD with the WinterOption, which sounds fair to me...

Any feedback on these two questions would be GREATLY appreciated. Any experiences in the NY/NJ, CT area are especially helpful. I will of course update the group and help any future buyers that I can.

Every Premium auto we saw in Seattle had exactly the same package (side mirror lights, heated seats, auto dimming mirrors, homelink on the mirror, cargo cover). Our sales guy said that Subaru just builds the first batch all the same, and then starts adjusting the option mix later on. Made sense to me - but a) I have no idea if it's true or not, and b) it might as well be true, since you can go online and look at dealer inventory of many, many cars at all the dealers around here, all with exactly the same options package.

Hi all - Just took a test drive of a 2014 Forester Premium. Was incredibly impressed by the solid, yet agile road feel, interior volume and visibility. I've also driven the CX5, supposedly the class leader in small/mid-sized SUV driving dynamics, and felt the Forester was better.

Would have probably bought it then and there if the salesman didn't start to try to upsell me every single conceivable option.

My question- what should I expect to pay OTD for a Premium Forester CVT? I think the standard feature set will suit me just fine. I'd love to hear how buyers on this thread did...please specify any options above the standard Premium trim package you included. I'd be so appreciative of this groups feedback.....and will provide an update for all future readers.

Well we did have a trade-in but they over valued it. They initially offered 2K under we owed. After a mix up with the loan we had to rewrite it so we re-negoiated the price and they ended up giving us $2.5K over what we owed for our trade-in. So went from negative $2000 to a positive $2,500 ($4,500 swing) in our favor. On top of that they dropped the price down.

So yes, it wasn't a straight $23.9K OTD but with the over valued trade, it essentially was.

And yes, their initially valuation of our trade was more accurate. No way we should have received $2.5K over what we owed on our own car. We went to multiple dealerships and they offered below or at the initial trade value of $2K under.

I'm picking mine up today and for the first time I am going to lease. Getting a Forester premium with All/Weather package and a couple of small options. Only thing down is first payment. Best advice I can give is work a couple of guys against each other and do your shopping over the internet. I still haven't actually picked mine up but I think it should go smooth. I do have a back up and they are within a few bucs of the best deal. I'm not a pro but it seemed like a good deal to me.

Hi all - Quick update. I've received a couple of dealer quotes on a new 2014 forester and have found some variation. Best I've found is in the 27500 range OTD (tax, dmv, etc). This is for a Premium with the all weather package. I'm not trading anything in.

What do you think? Pull the trigger or is 27000 OTD closer to what I should expect to pay?

The invoice price less 2% of a 2014 Forester Premium PZEV Automatic CVT with all weather package added is $24,300 (per edmunds.com). Subtract the tax and dmv and your price shouldn't be higher than $24,300.

There is currently an offer of 1.9% financing for all new 2014 Foresters. I'd much prefer a cash back offer. Does Subaru ever offer cash back incentives in place of low interest rate financing incentives? If so, how often does Subaru switch their promotions? i.e., when/how often should I check back with my local dealers to see if a cash back offer has emerged?

thanks so much for the reply. Really appreciate it. Wish I knew about this option 6 months ago...that would have to count among the best 30$ anyone has ever spent. I'll have to see if any of the dealerships will honor it, but I'm already guessing I know the answer...."gee...we'd like to, but subaru gives us $$$ back to support members of this program. Since you aren't actually a member, we won't get support from Subaru, and so we will actually lose money selling you this car....."

How much truth there is in this statement is unknown, but I'll see what I can do.

I've not seen anything and would not expect to on a new model like the Forester. They are offering more incentives on remaining 2013s and on the sedans. Foresters and outbacks seem to be holding their own.

I am working with a small dealer in MD area. The salesperson is very sincere in his job and works with you to get all the necessary documents needed to do your own financing. He sent me the PO via email.